Crafting with kids can be a messy affair. Kids love to explore different ways to do things. They haven't been 'programmed' to think in a set pattern. I on the other hand, am a control freak. I hate mess unless it is mine.

Well, last week, I sat down with the kids to spray paint some easter eggs. It was actually quite late and the kids were supposed to go to bed after completing the craft so I didn't want them to get dirty.

I set out a huge mahjong paper on the floor along with the hard-boiled white eggs and the spray paint bottles.

Then I showed them how to do it.

My younger son got really excited.

But he needed both hands to spray the eggs and so he sat with his feet near the eggs and tried to spray the eggs.

I was rather anxious about him dirtying his feet so I told him to cross his legs to keep his feet clean but he kept reverting to that position probably because it was the most comfortable position for him. Think it might also have helped him balance.

It was really driving me a little nuts. I kept telling him (err, read shouting at him) not to stretch his legs out and he would listen for a moment and forget whenever he started on a new egg.

It was seriously killing the wonderful craft moment that I had envisioned.

So I gave up.

I told myself, what is the worst thing about getting paint on your feet. Even if it doesn't wash off, it won't kill him.

Then I relaxed and watched them make a really happy mess. My son even exclaimed, that this was really fun.

And you know what, after they were done, my son went to wash his feet and the paint totally washed off.

I'm currently in Geneva for a short vacation while the husband is here for work.

While he has been hard at work, I have enjoyed wandering around the city (you can see snapshots at my instagram account) but today, I decided to pop by Creative Mornings in Geneva. It was a great way to meet the people and I really enjoyed chatting to lots of creatives based here.

I can't remember when I first started listening to the talks but from time to time, I like to randomly select talks from the Creative Mornings website to listen to. Creative Mornings is essentially a breakfast lecture series for creative people and happens in 60 cities around the world. Every talk is recorded and can be found on their site. Here are some talks that I have found helpful in the past : given by Adam Tobin, Beci Orpin, Seth Godin and Kuik Shiao-Yin.

Well, I have always wanted to attend the Creative Morning talks in Singapore but the timing has always been a little hard for me as that is normally the time when the kids have to be in school.

So when I found out I was going to be in Geneva, I checked the Creative Mornings Geneva schedule and was delighted to find out that there was going to be a talk while I was there. I signed up straight away.

The theme for this month is Bravery and the speaker was DJ Forza who is the co-Founder of Geneva + Acumen, a Kiva fellow and works in innovative finance at the GAVI Alliance. She was clearly passionate about eradicating poverty and also helping the needy have access to simple things such as immunization.

She also talked about being brave in communicating what it is that you are passionate about and to spend time building the bonds with the community that shares your passion. I was inspired to think more about my message and how to communicate it better.

There was also a photo booth at the event and guests were asked to scribble down "Who they thought was the bravest person in the world?" or "What was the bravest thing that they had done?"

It set me thinking… I didn't figure it out immediately but after mulling over it today, I can finally say that I think the bravest thing that I have done was to leave the job that I had been trained for, to carve out the sort of job and life that I really want.

I don't think I am exactly there yet and it isn't always easy but I have no regrets. At least, not yet.

It's the School Holidays next week and the perfect time to launch a new series on the blog called Fun Makers. But this series isn't just for kids, it's really for adults too.

I don't know about you but I find it hard to play. In fact, I tend to have to work extra hard to find cool stuff that excites me and actually makes me forget my dreaded never-ending to do list. Thankfully, I occasionally stumble on some really cool things and that's what I will be sharing in this series - to inspire everyone to have fun, forget your to do lists and maybe, just maybe boost your creativity while you're at it.

While we were visiting the Science Street Fair at the Singapore Science Centre last friday, we saw a computer hooked up to some fruit. My kids tapped on the fruit and managed to make music.

It was a rather cool contraption and when speaking to the lady operating the station, she showed me how it worked. All the fruits were linked up to a MaKey MaKey kit that told the computer which actions to take.

It was then that I remembered seeing the MaKey MaKey projects a while ago while surfing on the internet but that was my first time playing with it. It was quite amazing.

I was so thrilled that my kids got to play music with fruits as well as pacman with fruits (pictured above). But you don't have to play with fruits, you can link it up to playdough or a flight of steps or even a bowl of water that your cat drinks.

Watch the video below and I hope that you will get excited too.

I'm not sure if the MaKey MaKey kit can be found in Singapore but you can purchase the MaKey MaKey kit online. Do share with me if you do get your hands on one. I would love to see what you make.

* The Fun Makers series is written to inspire people to take time to play and make something because everyone can be creative. In fact, the more you play, the more creative you become so join us and have some fun.

If you have been following my blog for a while, you will know that I have a love for simple ideas.

So you won't be surprised when I tell you how much I love the Rocket Launcher created by Parivendhan, another winner at the Sony Creative Science Award. Unsurprisingly, he won a commendation for the Simplicity Award.

When I first spotted him, he was playing with his creation - The Rocket Launcher. He simply placed the red rocket on top of the cup and it would shoot upwards. I was intrigued and asked him a few questions.

The schools in Singapore break for a week and I thought it would be timely to share a number of creations made by the young minds that I saw at this year's Sony Creative Science Award Ceremony. I loved chatting with the kids and understanding more about the creation process so I thought you might like to hear about them too. Perhaps their stories might even inspire you to make something out of nothing.

First up, meet Haris (and his sister)!

Haris is 8 years old and he created the Asteroid Crash (pictured above) which is a 2 player game where both parties are to aim asteroids (ping pong balls with velcro on them) at the planets (stuck on the bell-shaped bottle) as they spinned. The planets have different points and if you happen to score more points, you win!

I was pretty impressed by the spinning motion and I asked Haris how he managed to make the planets spin?

His answer was simple.

It turns out that he used a portable handheld fan motor (the green ball is part of the fan motor) and after removing the blades, it was perfect for the job. The whole project took him a few weeks to assemble with help from his father.

Today I am going to share with you a gem of a place! While I was in Darwin and Kakadu, I popped by a number of souvenir stores but none had fabric or prints as pretty as these. Well, to me at least. I really love that these prints have a modern and vibrant feel to them.

So you can imagine how excited I was when our tour bus (you can see the reflection in the image above) stopped right outside the Aboriginal Fabric Gallery during our time in Alice Springs. We had less than an hour to roam the little town and well, I spent most of my time in here.

Look at the bevy of materials. It took me a while to decide what I wanted but this is where I spent most of my holiday money. Although the shop is quite small, they stock a wide variety of Aboriginal Fabrics. Perhaps the largest in the world! So the good news is that they also have an online store so do pop by and check them out if you would like to get your hands on some of their charming fabric.

Now if you have been following me on instagram, you will know that I brought back a few scarves from NT as souvenirs and am happy to share that I would like to give one of them to a lucky winner. Just my way of sharing my joy. Here is how you can enter the giveaway. Good luck to all of you!

GIVEAWAY

How To Participate :1. Like the Scissors Paper Stone facebook pagefacebook.com/scissorspaperstoneblog2. Leave a comment here telling me whether you craft or blog. If you have a blog, do feel free to share the link and I will try to pop by and say Hello! Don't worry if you don't craft or blog, just make sure you leave your name and tell me what you like about my blog. (Just trying to get some feedback, not fishing for compliments. Hehe)

Details of the Giveaway : - This giveaway is open to all readers worldwide and will end on Friday 13 September 2013 at 2359h.- A winner will be selected at random and the results will be announced on Monday 16 September 2013 on the facebook page.- The winner will need to email their mailing address to mailscissorspaperstone [at] gmail [dot] com within a week otherwise another winner will be drawn at random.

On my way to Australia, I chanced upon something new after passing through immigration in the Departure Hall. We had checked in pretty early and so we had a little time to walk around.

I was actually badly missing my kids and husband and having a change of heart about going on this trip to the Northern Territory without them, when I discovered The Social Tree, which seems to be modelled after the Super Trees at Gardens by the Bay. The only difference is that this tree is surrounded by 8 interactive booths where you can photograph yourself, edit the photo and share it on the Social Tree.

I spent a little time there playing with the application. It wasn't too difficult and you can add clipart and text. When I was done, I shared it on the Social Tree by flicking it upwards. It was pretty cool to watch!

And there I was floating around on The Social Tree... Do pop by to try it if you have some time before departure. It's pretty fun!

* The Social Tree is located right after the immigration counter in the central piazza at Terminal 1.

If you would like to share a DIY Craft Tutorial on your blog or website, please only use one or two photos and link back to my website for the full tutorial. If you have any questions, you can reach me at mailscissorspaperstone [at] gmail [dot] com. Thank You!